Commune

How to spell commune

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce commune

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does commune mean?

1. nounA group of people who live together and share possessions, work, and responsibilities.
2. verbTo share one's intimate thoughts or feelings, often quietly and reflectively.

Commune in a sentence

• noun

  The commune grew its own vegetables and shared every meal.

• verb

  She liked to commune with nature on long solitary walks.

• noun

  In the 1970s her parents joined a rural commune in the hills.

• verb

  He would commune quietly with old friends over a glass of wine.

Where does commune come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word reaches English from the Latin communis, meaning 'shared by all' or 'common', which was built from com- 'together' and an element related to munus 'duty, service, or gift'; the underlying idea is people bound together by a shared obligation. From communis Latin formed communia, 'common things held in common', which passed into Old French as commune to describe a self-governing town or body of citizens. English borrowed the noun in the medieval period for a community holding property or governance jointly, and the meaning of a group living together cooperatively grew strongly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The verb sense, 'to share thoughts intimately', developed separately through the related notion of communing in fellowship. The same communis root gives us 'common', 'community', and 'communicate', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the doubled m and ends in -mune.

How the word is built

• com- (together, with)
• -mune (from Latin munis: bound by duty/service)